Former Conservative cabinet minister Lord Parkinson has retired from the House of Lords.

Speaker of the Lord’s, Lady D’Souza, announced his retirement at the start of business in the chamber on Monday.

She thanked him for his “much valued service to the house” to murmurs of agreement from peers.

Cecil Parkinson, 84, was first elected as MP for Enfield West in 1970 and served as secretary of state for trade and industry under Margaret Thatcher.

He was forced to resign as trade secretary in 1983 after revelations that his former secretary, Sara Keays, was pregnant with his child, but went on to serve as secretary of state for energy and transport in later years.

He became a member of the House of Lords in 1992 and is the latest to take advantage of new rules allowing peers to retire from the house.